Young fundraiser Dylan is the cream of the crop!

Little Dylan Maddocks just loves his visits to Whirlow Hall Farm on the edge of Sheffield.

And now the big-hearted five-year-old is all set to pull on his trainers to raise funds that will help other children visit his favourite city farm.

On Sunday 9th April Dylan will line up with hundreds of other youngsters to take part in the Arena Group Sheffield Mini and Junior Run, which gets underway shortly after the start of the Plusnet Yorkshire Half Marathon-Sheffield.

So far Dylan has raised £365 to support the work of the farm, which describes itself as a “classroom in the countryside” and is visited by over 10,000 children and young people each year. Whirlow Hall Farm Trust is the official charity of the mini and junior run.

Dylan’s mum, Louise, said: “The event was advertised at Dylan's school and he was very excited to take part. He loves to run and wanted to raise money to help children in his local area so they would get the opportunity to enjoy Whirlow Hall Farm just as much as he does.“We set up a Just Giving page which was linked to Facebook and had a fantastic response from family and friends. Dylan was excited to see the total he had raised increasing each day. He has so far managed to raise £365 which is an amazing achievement.

“All the family will be coming to the event to support and cheer him on and his little sister Poppy is very excited to watch him run.We are incredibly proud of him and hope it encourages other children to raise money for great local charities.”

Thanks to the Arena Group’s sponsorship, the mini and junior run is free to enter and all places have now been snapped up.

Mr Adrian Fitzpatrick, the company’s Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to support an event that encourages youngsters to be more active and to support local good causes. Dylan has certainly captured the spirit of the run and I hope he and his family have a really enjoyable day.”

The mini and junior run is organised by Run For All, the not-for-profit organisation whose stable of events includes the Yorkshire Half Marathon-Sheffield and the Asda Foundation Sheffield 10K.